Christopher Bacon, director of security company CNN Security, has been disqualified for eight years for failing to keep proper accounts, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service (IS).

The IS investigation found that CNN Security had failed to maintain or preserve proper accounts or deliver up adequate records to the insolvency practitioner. The company entered liquidation on 10 May 2011, but a lack of proper accounts meant it was impossible for investigators to determine CNN's true tax debt to HMRC.

Bacon admitted that, while a director, the company claimed back £130,188 in VAT on purchase invoices that were not eligible for such rebates. In addition, between 5 November 2009 and 10 May 2011, cash withdrawals of almost £700,000 were made from CNN's bank account, but inadequate company records meant it was not possible to determine the reason for these withdrawals.

Commenting on the case, Vicky Bagnall, investigations & enforcement director at the Insolvency Service said: 'The lack of accounts at CNN meant hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash withdrawals went unexplained and it was also impossible for investigators to establish how much the company owed in tax.

'Failure to keep proper records, particularly when a company is entering financial difficulty, is a serious matter and the law rightly treats it as such. Company directors tempted to neglect their duties in this area should take heed that the Insolvency Service will investigate them and they could be removed from the business environment.'

Bacon has given an undertaking that he will not act as a director of a limited company from 16 April 2013 until April 2021.